Chapter 11

chapter eleven stop what? Wait? So, huh? The fight ends before it begins—something I wish happened more often. "Wracksaw did this," Skaelka says. "Wracksaw turned him into... this unnatural beast." With her hands out, like she's trying to calm an angry dog, Skaelka wades out into the swamp.

The Arachnacanid stops yanking against its chain. Each breath is a low groan. "It doesn't look like a threat now," I say. "It just looks like it's in pain." "Like the Drakkor," Dirk says. "I was about to say the same thing, friend," Quint replies. I shoot them both a "we get it, you went on a cool adventure and became bosom buddies with something called a Drakkor, don't know what that is, but I'm guessing it's probably like a sentient beachball and I'm 92 percent sure that guess is correct" look. Water splashes as the Arachnacanid settles into the swamp. Its mouth slowly opens... "Loe WOOSTf HOest......" "Whoa," I whisper. "It can talk." "The language is not entirely familiar to me," Skaelka says. "But Skaelka will do her best to translate." The Arachnacanid's head sinks into the watery ooze for a moment—then jerks up again. Its words come in long, slow gasps. "Hoesft." "It tells Skaelka it was the final innocent creature in the fortress. Wracksaw experimented on it," Skaelka says, turning from the Arachnacanid to us. "Wracksaw chained the monster here to guard the

cliff-entrance during the pivotal moment of knowledge-extraction..." "I mean this in the least-jerky way possible," I say, inching forward. "But it doesn't appear to be the most effective guard." "It does not attack because... it recognizes me," Skaelka says. "It saw Skaelka inside the fortress. It knows Wracksaw has hurt Skaelka, too." I'm suddenly struck by a realization. A weakness— a blind spot—in Wracksaw, in Thrull, and maybe even in rezzoch Evil understands nothing but evil. Wracksaw must not have counted on one of his experiments sympathizing with a fellow survivor because Wracksaw probably doesn't even know the meaning of the word. Real, true evil—it can't contemplate the idea of "good." Dæß Cöél Dd'ég, Skaelka takes a deep, shuddering breath. I've never seen her like this before. "Our friend tells me only evil remains inside the fortress." June's face lights up—if there's only evil inside, that means there's no roadblocks to her big Fortress Breaker moment. She starts to punch the air, but Dirk catches her fist. "Read the room, dude." "Right. Sorry." The Arachnacanid surges up again. "lJG$t."

Skaelka looks like her ax suddenly weighs two tons. It almost seems like... the Arachnacanid asked for something... It says carry out your duty as a warrior and end my suffering, please. What Skan? No, you can't. "I am bound to oblige. My ax is sharp, and I will be swift," Skaelka says matter-of-factly. Then, softly, she adds, "The creature will be dead soon regardless. Wracksaw's foul experimentation has seen to that." I look away as Skaelka lifts the ax high. There's no sound for a long moment. Then the air whistles as she brings the blade crashing down. CLANG!

The metallic sound spins me around. I exhale, relieved, when I see that Skaelka has only sliced through the chain. The Arachnacanid slips beneath the surface. Free of this place. Skaelka wades back to the water's edge, then sits down, hard. Barnacles glow around her. Her eyes shut, and she rests her arms on the hilt of her ax. "I... I could not do what it asked," Skaelka says. Her voice is shaky as she lifts her head and looks at us. "Nor can I enter the fortress again. I am too afraid of encountering Wracksaw. I... I cannot." June inhales sharply. "But... sure you can," she starts, but Dirk grabs her hand and pulls her into a huddle. "Quint and I spent a lot of time with Skaelka," Dirk whispers. "Inside her head, too. If she says she can't, she can't. We gotta respect that." Dirk's right. I know that. June does, too. But—this is bad. We were counting on Skaelka to get us through the fortress. The ground rumbles beneath us, and we all look up. A geyser of something like steam erupts from the peak of the fortress. As it dissipates in the cold wind, we hear a sudden— KRAK!

Skaelka has slammed her ax into the ground, using it to stand. "That exhalation of air," she says, nodding toward the plume. "It causes a memory to return... Inside the fortress is a Directarium—it will show you the location of the heart." "And that's where we place the Fortress Breaker," June says, her spirits lifting. But ah, how exactly do we find this directorium thing? I remember paths arteries leading through the fortress. They led me to the directorium-And from there I found a way out. Arteries, heart, so evocative. Skalka you know how to paint a picture? Pretty ugly picture. "The Directarium is similar to your Maparatus; they are living maps, connected," Skealka says. "The Maparatus can lead you to the Directarium. Find the